Comparisons between RCI and Celebrity

[Bridge Maven]

I've been on both the Oasis and the Allure. The ships are nothing short of amazing and as far as crowds, your friends are absolutely correct. Oasis Class uses a reservation process for shows since they are in 4 different venues. This keeps all the crowds separated. You owe it to yourself to give it a try. You won't regret it.

 

Aquahound, thanks so much for sharing your experience on Oasis and Allure. Your post reaffirms our decision to to try an Oasis class ship, even though I was initially reluctant to do it.

[travelpeon]

Maddycat, have you been on any of Royal Caribbean's Oasis class ships? At first I thought I would never go on a ship that large, but a number of our friends love them and feel that the Oasis and Allure are so well designed that they never feel crowded and provide better service than ships that are a fraction of their size.

 

I wouldn't say never crowded. You should still try Oasis/Allure for yourself. If you like lively crowds, there were a few. Quest and parades seemed well attended on my sailing aboard Allure.

 

If you dislike crowds, do stake out a strategic spot for viewing parades in the Royal Promenade or avoid them altogether. I got stuck in a pre-parade crowd while getting some pizza. It was a bit tough to leave the area due to the traffic and I had to take the food to-go as all the seats were taken by parade watchers. The photo area or one of the upper bars would be a roomier viewing spot.

 

Allure's "secret" spots on the public aft balconies and seating area on deck 5 were not too full.

 

Arriving back at dock during port day peak hours also had a crowd. I admit looking at the nice ice water and towels provided by Celebrity quite longingly after being herded through Allure/Oasis security buildings (air conditioned, but still crowded) and grilled about liquids. Once inside some elevator waits were crowded. I expected long waits but the waiting areas aren't that large, either.

 

In my limited experience aboard the two classes, both Allure and Eclipse had tables seated fairly close. Bistro on Five for a late boarding lunch had plenty of space and Giovanni's on a morning only port day was also fairly empty.

 

I can't compare the MDR food fairly since I dined in Blu aboard Eclipse and MTD aboard Allure. The menus are different and the venues entirely different. I did learn I prefer a more intimate dining room experience and appreciate dining with an ocean view (rather than fuzzy screens to block out Allure's deck 5 running track and bulkheads).

 

Specialty dining aboard both ships were quite nice. Samba Grill had a bit too much food for us. Though I remember a someone stating the same about Tuscan Grill onboard Eclipse. My S.O. and I both thought Central Park 150 was great and we would have gladly dined there again if we weren't so full. They have cute window tables for two if you want some private dining time.

[Bridge Maven]

I wouldn't say never crowded. You should still try Oasis/Allure for yourself. If you like lively crowds, there were a few. Quest and parades seemed well attended on my sailing aboard Allure.

 

If you dislike crowds, do stake out a strategic spot for viewing parades in the Royal Promenade or avoid them altogether. I got stuck in a pre-parade crowd while getting some pizza. It was a bit tough to leave the area due to the traffic and I had to take the food to-go as all the seats were taken by parade watchers. The photo area or one of the upper bars would be a roomier viewing spot.

 

Allure's "secret" spots on the public aft balconies and seating area on deck 5 were not too full.

 

Arriving back at dock during port day peak hours also had a crowd. I admit looking at the nice ice water and towels provided by Celebrity quite longingly after being herded through Allure/Oasis security buildings (air conditioned, but still crowded) and grilled about liquids. Once inside some elevator waits were crowded. I expected long waits but the waiting areas aren't that large, either.

 

In my limited experience aboard the two classes, both Allure and Eclipse had tables seated fairly close. Bistro on Five for a late boarding lunch had plenty of space and Giovanni's on a morning only port day was also fairly empty.

 

I can't compare the MDR food fairly since I dined in Blu aboard Eclipse and MTD aboard Allure. The menus are different and the venues entirely different. I did learn I prefer a more intimate dining room experience and appreciate dining with an ocean view (rather than fuzzy screens to block out Allure's deck 5 running track and bulkheads).

 

Specialty dining aboard both ships were quite nice. Samba Grill had a bit too much food for us. Though I remember a someone stating the same about Tuscan Grill onboard Eclipse. My S.O. and I both thought Central Park 150 was great and we would have gladly dined there again if we weren't so full. They have cute window tables for two if you want some private dining time.

 

Travelpeon, thanks for sharing your experiences, as well as your good advice.

 

Regarding ship crowds, there are many ships that aren't that large but you have to get to the theater 1/2 hour in advance to get a good seat, you have to make reservations for specialty restaurants before you cruise to insure you get one, the entrance to the main dining room looks a crowded NYC subway, the procedure for tender ports is a nightmare, it is difficult to find a lounge by the pool, etc. In my opinion those ships do not handle the number of passengers they have well, even though they may have a good passenger/space ratio. That is why I find it so impressive that Oasis class ships seem to manage crowds better than ships which are a fraction of its size.

[grayjay]

We were on the Equinox from Rome on Nov. 7. Did a tour of the galleys and attended the cooking demo. The big chief cook Ueli (who wrote the big book in Celebrity food - forgot name of this) informed us during a FAQ that all food is flown in from US to Europe and loaded on the ship at each departure. Practically nothing is bought locally and certainly not the meat.

That's not totally true. During our Med cruise in November I noticed that some of the fresh food - for example yoghurt, milk , butter etc - were French or Belgian brands, whereas I felt sure that the meat came from the US. On one of the kitchen tours we were told that most of the fruit, meat and fish came frozen from the US.

That's perhaps the reason why most of the fish and all the smoked salmon during our Norwegian cruise was bland - in a country with tons of fresh fish just outside your ship... :mad: I found the meat of much better quality.

[Tom47]

I found some of the original post interesting as neither of the RCL ships we have been on left the pools open 24hours. They did leave 1 hot tub open.

 

Celebrity has much better outdoor space - The lawns on the soltice class are great to sit around with a cold drink and they outside space to eat breakfast is much better on Celebrity.

 

I like both companies for different reasons but have to say that RCL are very poor on officer visibility, unlike Celebrity who send them out to play games etc against passengers.

 

I think the concierge access on the RCL beats what Celebrity offers suite guests in fact on Celebrity we don;t see the point in paying for anything above a balcony as you don;t really get anything for the extra money.

Hi

My wife and I prefer Celebrity to RCI We have only been on 1 cruise for each line. See my review

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1516742

 

Tom:)

[pickytraveler4]

We have been on a handful of RCI cruises previously and just got off our first Celebrity Millenium (M class) ship. We are a mid-40s couple that mostly cruise alone but periodically with a few other couples.

 

1. Agree with comment about more suite benefits on Royal. We booked Royal Suite on Millenium and enjoyed the space (important to us) but not as impressed with benefits in comparison to Royal, i.e. reserved pool and event seating, breakfast seating in specialty restaurant (quieter), etc.

2. Liked the more intimate concierge lounge on Royal in comparison to Celebrity. Celebrity (elite) events were large, structured events which seemed impersonal.

3. More food options on Royal, i.e. like the option of eating in the Windjammer in the evening with fine linens and still having some of the MDR food being served in the Windjammer. MDR experience more enjoyable on Celebrity.

4. Don't slam me but we found that on our Celebrity cruise the people were more reserved. If you want to call this more refined fine. We found people on Royal to be more relaxed, genuine and outgoing.... just our experience in comparing many royal cruises to simply our one Celebrity cruise.

[cgags47]

Everything that I have read here has definitely helped my outlook on what to expect for my upcoming Celebrity cruise. Being a long time RCI cruiser, I do think that it will be a change from what I am used to, but I am still looking forward to it. I think that my GF and I will like the change of pace. Being able to share a few drinks together, and still catch some live music will be great. I've heard great things about the food on Celebrity, plus the Casino will always provide entertainment! And as always, more relaxation is never a bad thing.

[craig0304]

:D

I started a post on the RCI board. Wanted to get the feelings from this board.

 

What are the differences, other than the obvious visual aspects of both lines ships and lack of a wall or flowrider?

 

Does Celebrity have a 24 hour eatery like the Promenade Cafe?

 

Do the pools stay open all night like the RCI ships?

 

Again I realize that the Celebrity experience is more refined. I think everybody has those days and nights when you want something more relaxed or something more vibrant.

 

We've sailed on Equinox and Liberty of the seas (once each).

 

Entertainment

Liberty was far superior for shows, Saturday Night Fever being outstanding. The ice show was also good on LOTS.

Equinox seemed to have more bands/groups on board for music in various venues around the ship though.

 

Food

Equinox was a lot better in the MDR and buffet.

Liberty food was ok, but if you want a higher standard pick Celebrity.

Speciality restaurants were excellent on both.

The 24 hour food on LOTS was just a couple of sandwhiches. On celeb it was a small buffet, Celeb won hounds down on this for me.

 

Wine

Neither are great at wine, and both expensive.

However Celeb has a far greater choice of wine.

Prosecco by the glass in the MDR was good value on Equinox (ask for a fresh bottle to be opened if its a bit flat, by the end of the cruise our waiter didnt need prompting, he said "I'll open a fresh bottle for you sir" for the last 2/3 nights as I ordered).

 

Facilities

We didnt use the spa on Equinox, but wish we had.

We toured the spa on LOTS and didnt fancy any of what they offered (no aqua therapy stuff).

Pools, were open later on LOTS, but not all night from memory.

The cantilevered hot tubs on LOTS were good fun, but too warm for me to stay in for any length of time, nothing like this on Celeb (not hanging out the side of the ship anyway).

 

In the review I posted of our LOTS cruise I tried to compare the two, and said we'd sail Celeb next, well we won't we'll be on LOTS again in May.

Also planning a Celeb cruise to Alaska for 2013.

We will likely go RC for cheap cruise breaks, but Celeb for once in a life type cruises.

 

Thats my opinion :D